By Thomas Peretu
The much anticipated inauguration of the Presidential Amnesty Programme Cooperative Society Limited (Pacosol) may have come and gone but the ripples of excitement generated by the event is still reverberating in the media space.
While the news of the new trajectory championed by Major General Barry Tariye Ndiomu (rtd) resonnates with men of goodwill, he seems to have incurred the angst of naysayers who I must confess are in the minority.
Rather than commend and applaud Gen Ndiomu’s visionary leadership and resocefulness, these enemies of progress in our midst are busy castigating the noble intentions of the General.
We shall not be distracted by their antics orchestrated to derail the programme nor shall we be moved by their mischief spun to score cheap political points.
The initiative which is the brainchild of Major General Barry Tariye Ndiomu, the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty programme, is meant to open a new vista in the administration of the amnesty programne.
The Presidential Amnesty Programme Cooperative Society Limited promises to be a game changer as efforts are being made by the General Ndiomu led administration to redirect, re-engineer and revitalise the entire concept of the programme in tandem with the original intentions of the Federal Government 13 years ago.
It bears repeating that the the Amnesty programme was conceived by President Umaru Yar’adua as an interventionist programme aimed at curbing youth restiveness in the Niger Delta region due in part to the disruption of oil facilities and flow stations by militant groups.
Unfortunately, 13 years down the line, the programme is yet to achieve its set mandate nor has it fully kept faith with its cardinal objective of creating an enabling environment for self actualization by the majority of the youths in the region.
Even so, we are not oblivious of its achievements in the academic ecosystem over the years.
it is necessary to point out with certainty that the programme had achieved some successes here and there especially with regards to the scholarship scheme which has become an open sesame for impacted communities.
The scholarship programne and its vocational training arm have all produced excellent results albeit with a heavy toll on its finances. Be that as it may, the programme has over the years produced first class graduates in various fields including the sciences, engineerings, legal profession, aeronautics, pilots, flight engineers just to mention a few.
Having said that, one must hasten to add that a clinical assessment of the entire programme would reveal a reversal of fortune despite government’s commitment to change the trajectory of the Niger Delta region.. The palpable chasm between input and output is glaring and inexplicable.
It is difficult, not to hinge the agency’s woes on the door steps of past leaders wo failed to provide leadership where necessary.
Those who midwifed the programme had compromised the system by derailing it either due in part to external influences and pressures or as a result of other primordial factors totally out of sync with the intentions of government.
It is impossible to.pretend that all is well with the amnesty agenda bearing in mind that the programme is in its last phase of reintegration. And that implies the programme may come to an end sooner or later.
It is noteworthy to assert, as it were that the avatar of change has been engaged by govermment to address these anomalies and defects in the system.
General Ndiomu is in the process of refocusing PAP by charting a new pathway for the agency.
This, without doubt is in consonance with the original intentions of government and that of the people.
It may interest you to know that no sooner General Ndiomu was appointed the Interim Administrator of PAP on the 15th of September 2022 than he began the process of putting in place an enduring structure akin to military tactical act and precision focusing mainly on the ex-agitators. His wide consultation
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